I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.


For Those in Prison--Feb. 6, 2012



There are those in prison--we must remember them.
There are those who are being tortured,
those who have not been fairly tried.

We must remember them as though
it had happened to us.

There are those deprived of their rights;
we must not assume they deserved it
because they lived for the moment.

We cry to you, Lord, for all of these;
O Lord, give ear to our sighing.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 5; 145; 82; 29
Gen. 25:19-34
Heb. 13:1-16
John 7:37-52

Selected Verses
Ps. 5:1-2
Give ear to my words, O LORD;
      give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry,
      my King and my God,
      for to you I pray.

Gen. 25:31-32
Jacob said, "First sell me your birthright." Esau said, "I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?"

Heb. 13:3
Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.

John 7:50-51
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, "Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?"
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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